


touch starved

by starkly



Series: you've been thunderstruck [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Happy Ending, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:01:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28185795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkly/pseuds/starkly
Summary: Asgardians don't have soulmates, not in the way humans do, with mysteriously inked words on skin. So Tony’s soulbond is left there, open and exposed, dangling without any connection like a stripped wire, ready to hurt whoever comes close.
Relationships: Tony Stark/Thor
Series: you've been thunderstruck [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2064666
Comments: 5
Kudos: 155





	touch starved

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for NaNoWriMo 2020 and [posted here](https://aleator.tumblr.com/post/633839303596933120) on my tumblr writing blog. This fic was proofread before being uploaded here but is otherwise unchanged.
> 
> Prompts taken from the AU-gust 2020 challenge list on Twitter. Day Three: Soulmate AU.

Tony spends most of his life trying not to touch people. His soulmate clearly doesn't appreciate it, so why would anyone else?

The words are clear as day in big block letters on his arm-- "Do not touch me again."

So Tony keeps to himself, hands shoved into his pockets or arms crossed over his chest. He flinches at the friendly pats on the shoulders and doesn’t offer handshakes or hugs. If people find him cold or rude, so be it.

He doesn’t share his words with anyone, though a select few do find out over time. Rhodey, of course, learns early on that Tony doesn’t like being touched, and he’s the first person outside of Tony’s family who he voluntarily shows his words to. Pepper finds out accidentally after she becomes his assistant, during an incident which is never to be discussed again.

And then there’s Obadiah.

Obie touches Tony without hesitation, gripping his shoulder or patting him on the back, and Tony lets him because Obie’s always been good to him. He trusts Obadiah to do right by him.

Turns out he was wrong, and his soulmate’s words on his arm have never resonated so strongly, so clearly. Maybe his soulmate’s got the right idea.

He doesn’t try to look for them, whoever they may be. He stopped yearning for a fairytale ending to his story years ago, even before his parents went up in smoke. If his soulmate is out there, they’ll find him, and he’s certain they’ll be just as disappointed as he is.

Funnily enough, he usually likes being right, but not this time.

The words come when he least expects them, from a man not even of Earth, a warrior prince with no recognition in his eyes as Tony retorts,

“Then don't take my stuff.”

Asgardians don't have soulmates, not in the way humans do, with mysteriously inked words on skin. So Tony’s soulbond is left there, open and exposed, dangling without any connection like a stripped wire, ready to hurt whoever comes close.

Tony doesn’t say anything. They stop Loki, stop the Chitauri, save the day. Thor leaves, taking Loki back to Asgard. Tony goes on with his life. He thinks that’s the end of it.

But then Thor comes back, and somehow Tony’s got multiple Avengers living in his tower, despite the expectation one might have after renaming said tower. It’s just that it’s hard to not think about soulmates at all when his own soulmate is living under his roof.

Unfortunately, Thor is nice. He’s funny, he’s smart, and he’s curious about Earth and its customs. Even worse, he likes to ask Tony for answers about those things.

“So everyone has these soul words, then?” Thor says, sipping chocolate milk from a tall glass with a straw. “Do you have a soulmate?”

Tony grits his teeth and doesn’t look up from the onions he’s caramelizing in a saute pan. “So they say,” he replies.

“You haven’t met them?” Thor asks, looking far too curious for Tony’s taste.

“Do you see them around?” Tony shoots back so he doesn’t have to give a real answer.

Thor glances around the room as if they’d actually be hiding in a corner somewhere. “Hm. What are your words?”

Tony accidentally scrapes his spatula against the bottom of the metal pan in his frustration. “Can we not talk about this right now?”

Thor raises an eyebrow at him. “All right. Do not get your panties in a bunch, as the Midgardians say.”

“Please don’t call them panties,” Tony mumbles, still angrily stirring his onions.

The truth of it is that Tony doesn’t have any plans to tell Thor. There’s no point--he’s not Thor’s soulmate. He’s not going to drag Thor down with him over some stupid birthmark that honestly probably doesn’t even mean anything.

He does a decent job of hiding his words for a while, until one day after a successful mission clearing out another Hydra base it finally comes out into the open. Tony’s gauntlet is badly mangled, practically melted in places, and Tony winces as he rips the broken pieces away.

He swears when he sees how the burnt remains of his undersuit cling to his arm, and Thor’s striding over to his side in seconds, gently taking his arm to steady him and carefully peeling back the sleeve so it’s no longer touching Tony’s skin. Tony doesn’t even have time to react, not expecting it at all, and so he doesn’t pull his arm away before Thor can see the dark black letters of his soulmark, dirtied but legible.

Both men freeze, staring down at Tony’s arm until Steve’s voice shakes them out of it.

“Thor, take Tony to medical,” Steve says, not realizing what’s happening between the two of them. “Natasha, you should have someone look at that ankle.”

Thor moves first, guiding Tony away without a word while Natasha argues with Steve that her ankle is fine. The sound of their argument fades into the background as Tony walks in front of Thor, trudging along like he’s being taken to his execution.

Thor doesn’t say anything as a medic looks at Tony’s arm and patches him up, but he doesn’t leave either. Tony submits to the doctor’s attentions without his usual complaints, and when his arm is all wrapped up the doctor excuses herself to go see to Natasha’s leg.

“Those are my words, aren’t they?”

Tony nearly jumps, having forgotten Thor was even there. He turns to look at him, but Thor doesn’t move from his spot in the corner.

“I’m meant to be your soulmate,” Thor continues, not waiting for Tony’s response. He already knows what the answer is.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” Tony says at last. “You people don’t have soul words.”

Thor studies him silently for a moment longer, then abandons his post in the corner, looking around the drawers and cabinets for something. He pauses when he finds whatever it is, back to Tony, and a few moments later he turns back around and comes over to Tony with his arm extended.

He’d written Tony’s first words to him in black marker on his arm, a simple “Then don’t take my stuff” in Thor’s messy handwriting.

Tony snorts and shakes his head. “Are you purposefully trying to rub salt in the wound? Because I gotta say, buddy, it’s working.”

“Was I correct that day on the Helicarrier after all? Are humans really so petty?”

“Okay, again, this really isn’t working for me,” Tony starts to say, but Thor takes hold of his good hand and cuts him off.

“Soulmates are not built on a foundation of measly little words. Soulmates are formed on solid things, trust and respect and affection. I have all these for you, Stark, and more.”

The fight goes out of Tony then, slowly being replaced by the first inklings of hope that Tony’s felt in a long time.

“What are you saying?” he asks, because he needs to hear it straight.

Thor gently squeezes his hand. “I could court you, if you wish it. I would be happy to do so.”

“You want to date me?”

“Aye. I want to date you,” Thor says with an amused little smile.

Finally Tony allows himself to relax completely, grinning up at Thor like a complete fool. “You’ll regret this,” he warns him, which is only the polite thing to do.

“Mmhm,” Thor says placatingly, nodding. “How about we start by finding something to eat?”

Tony hops down from the exam table he’d been sitting on this whole time, legs feeling a little wobbly as he follows after Thor, not realizing he’s still holding Thor’s hand.

“I think you should get that tattooed, by the way,” he tells Thor, looking thoughtful. “Can Asgardians get tattoos?”

“We’ll discuss it,” Thor replies, squeezing Tony’s hand again, and for once in his life Tony thinks that being touched isn’t so bad after all.


End file.
